The widow of Prince Charles' friend who died in an avalanche slams 'The Crown' for depicting the tragedy
- The widow of the army major whose fatal skiing accident is depicted on the latest season of "The Crown," said she was "horrified" to hear about the episode.
- Sarah Horsley told The Telegraph that she had previously written to the show's producers asking for the accident to be left out because it was a "very private tragedy," but Netflix continued to pursue the accident.
- Horsley, who was pregnant with her daughter at the time of the accident, said that she is worried about the effect the show will have on her family.
The widow of a British army major who died during a skiing trip with Prince Charles said she was "horrified" to see the accident dramatized on "The Crown."
Sarah Horsley, Major Hugh Lindsay's widow, told The Sunday Telegraph that the accident was a "private tragedy" and she had previously asked the show's producers not to adapt the disaster for television.
"I was horrified when I was told [the episode] was happening and was very concerned about the impact on my daughter," she said.
"I'm very upset by it and I'm dreading people seeing it. I wrote to them asking them not to do it, not to use the accident. I suppose members of the royal family have to grin and bear it, but for me, it's a very private tragedy."
Sarah said that Netflix and the show's producers responded to her request not to adapt the accident with "a very kind letter" in which they explained that the episode would still be going ahead.
"They understood my concerns," she said the letter read, "but they hope I will feel that they deal with difficult subject matters with integrity and great sensitivity."
The accident features in episode nine of "The Crown" where viewers see Major Hugh Lindsay depart for a skiing trip in Switzerland with a group of senior royals including Prince Charles and Diana who at the time are struggling to save their marriage.
Soon after the group departs, news hits the palace that an avalanche hit the party and a man's body has been found.
Sarah added that it was "very unkind to many members of the family" for Netflix to dramatize the accident and she declined an invitation from the show's producers to see an advanced screening of the episode.
"I won't be watching it, it's just too upsetting to see something like that," she said. "Perhaps at some point in the future, Alice and I will watch it quietly together. It will be tough. My daughter has only heard about the accident from me because she wasn't even born when it happened."
At the time of the accident, she was working in the press office at Buckingham Palace and was heavily pregnant with her daughter Alice to whom Prince Charles went on to become the godfather.
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